Practical Plant Failure Analysis

Course Details

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Format: 
Public Course
Category: 
Reliability Training
Language: 
English
Price: 
$2,495.00

This 3-day course emphasizes a practical approach in learning how to accurately diagnose mechanical failures and how to prevent future failures. Discussions and instruction are geared toward industrial plants and hands-on experience. The course provides an understanding of how mechanical components function, letting students gain knowledge of the causes that contribute to all failures.

Upon completion of the course, participants will demonstrate the ability to lead a practical and systematic analysis to determine the physical root cause of the failure and recommend corrective actions to prevent future failures. You will learn to classify and understand the basic properties of materials, determine the causes of roller element bearing failures, fasteners fundamentals, power transmission failure mechanisms, gears damage mechanisms, and understand the influence of corrosion.

This reliability training course is instructed by reliability professionals in both public classroom settings and private on-site. Continuing Education: 24 PDH credits.

We take a closer look at:

  • The Roots of Failures
  • Material Properties
  • Failure Mechanisms
  • Fracture Analysis
  • Fastener Failures
  • Lubrication
  • Roller Bearing Failure Analysis
  • Gears
  • Corrosion Recognition
  • Power Transmission Elements
  • Centrifugal Pumps

Our training course provides reliability engineers, plant engineers, maintenance mechanics, technicians, and supervisors with the knowledge and skills required to understand and eliminate failures. With over 30 years of development, this course offers extensive hands-on experience to give students the opportunity to evaluate actual broken components.

Steve O'Brien

Instructor & Consultant

Steve has been a part of The Snell Group Team since July of 2023.

Steve began his career as a Pneumatic and Hydraulics technician. He also was a backup welder and machinist. He pursued and completed both a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Notre Dame and a BA in Liberal Arts from Stonehill College. He also holds a MBA from Babson College. As an engineer he designed test and production equipment for the Automotive industry. He then moved to a startup company involved in explosive and drug detection where he held many roles ranging from design to product management and ending in Field service where he created and delivered training to hundreds of technicians from around the world. He also holds a patent in explosive and drug detection.

Steve started his Reliability engineering training in the Bio- pharmaceutical industry with Sanofi Genzyme where he created and received funding to create a Reliability Engineering group where he instituted a Predictive maintenance program that had over $500 million in asset saves. Steve has held Level 1 certifications in Infrared Thermography, Vibration, Airborne Ultrasound, Machinery Lubrication ML1, and is a federally licensed drone pilot holding a FAA part 107 license. Steve has deployed building envelope inspection programs at multiple buildings using drone and handheld IR cameras. Steve is familiar with motor circuit analysis and has used his knowledge of failure analysis gained from the Practical Plant failure class on many occasions. Steve has also successfully used motion amplification for the analysis of complex mechanical issues. He supported primarily infrastructure assets but was often consulted for drug production equipment issues.

Steve left Sanofi Genzyme and joined Pfizer as a Principal Reliability Engineer where he managed the site's predictive maintenance program. He managed all aspects of this program and progressed it to a best in network program. This program protected hundreds of millions of dollars of assets. Steve also was sought after as a mentor for asset management and replacement programs. During Steve's career he traveled to over a dozen countries.

Steve and his wife live on Cape Cod in Massachusetts where they both enjoy the ocean. Steve has taught surfcasting lessons and is a member of the Falmouth Fishermen's association and the Mass Beach Buggy Association. Steve enjoys fishing, upland bird hunting, creating nautical and marine art and woodworking. Steve and his wife have 3 grown children and enjoy leisurely travel.

Steve currently teaches Level 1 infrared thermography courses for The Snell Group.

The Costs of Heating and Cooling a Structure

We all live and work in buildings. Inspecting these structures for energy losses or gains is an important step to keeping the cost as low as possible while maintaining a comfortable environment within the structure. The inspection conducted the most often is an insulation (conduction) inspection. Often overlooked or misperceived, is the air leakage (convection) inspection. After all, it can contribute to ½ of the cost of heating or cooling a structure. And that is what we are going to discuss in this tip.

Power Quality is an Important Step

June 19, 2023
Motor Talk

We’re often asked why power quality is a part of an online (energized) motor test. It is important to understand that the PQ test of an energized motor test is only a snapshot of the overall power quality present at that motor. If a facility suspects they have widespread power quality issues, an energized motor test isn’t going to give them all the answers they need. We can provide a deeper, more comprehensive power quality analysis if that’s what’s needed.

How Effective is Your Insulation?

June 08, 2023
Buildings

Industry specific euphemisms can be incredibly humorous. There are a variety of air brake switches in substations that linemen often call “popsicles”, for example. A tangle of wires is commonly called a “bird’s nest”. In building science there is a component used to help install fiberglass batt insulation called “Tiger’s teeth”, and if you are not using them, you might be causing the insulation system to be less effective.

Les Métaux dissemblables et la haute résistance sur les connexions serties

Lors d’une inspection thermographique d'un équipement électrique, il existe de nombreuses connexions auxquels une résistance élevée peut se développer, ou un chauffage anormal peut se produire.  Vous avez sans doute observé le réchauffement associé à une résistance électrique élevée : le chauffage et le refroidissement localisés se transfèrent le long d’un conducteur ou d’un circuit.  Mais il est possible que les thermographes avec moins d’expérience ne soient pas capable d’identifier les zones les plus difficiles à repérer, là où ce genre de défaillance est susceptible de se produire.

What is a Normal and Low Influence RIC

In motor testing, the Rotor Influence Check, or RIC as we have come to call it, is one of the tests applied in motor acceptance as well as route-based inspections. It often is used as a troubleshooting method for correlating or identifying failure modes discovered during route-based inspections. It can be performed on induction motors, synchronous and wound rotor motors. It provides us with data to determine stator and rotor faults as well as the ability to determine conditions that may affect the air gap between the rotor and stator.  It is one of those tests that we love to hate.